Ken Borland

The meddling of politicians in sport seldom ends well, which South Africans should be acutely aware of after Apartheid’s awful segregation efforts and a lengthy list of sports ministers since democracy who have mostly been pretty inept when it comes to actually achieving anything worthwhile in their portfolio.

I disagree, however, with those who say there is no need for a minister of sport. In terms of nation-building, we have already seen the huge role sport plays and it is something very dear to so many South Africans that there does need to be some sort of regulation and oversight to ensure sport continues to operate in the best interests of the public.

The current Cricket South Africa Board, as incompetent and self-indulgent an infection of administrators as you could have the misfortune to find, is prime evidence of the need to have some sort of governmental control over sport.

But the way current Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has waded into the current crisis in South African cricket does not provide much hope that he is doing any good; at the moment he is probably as effective as that renowned chocolate teapot, one of his predecessors, Fikile Mbalula.

Mthethwa does not give the impression that he really has his finger on the pulse of what cricket’s most pressing issues are; in fact, he probably has very little knowledge of the running of the game in this country, given that he threatened Cricket South Africa earlier this year with not sending them to the Olympics if they don’t comply with his wishes. (Cricket does not feature at the Olympics in case you were wondering; although T20 could be a great addition to the quadrennial event).

Transformation in cricket is, of course, an issue that is burning like Cajun spice in a sensitive throat and there is no doubt CSA have to relook the work of their transformation committee, which has been in existence for 22 years. And it is certainly part of the minister’s job to keep an eye on how all sports are attempting to reflect the demographics of the country and address the wrongs of the past.

But at the moment, the most pressing issue for cricket is massive-scale misgovernance and the attempted capture of the sport and its money and prestige by a select few self-serving individuals. The CSA Board and executives such as Thabang Moroe, Naasei Appiah and Welsh Gwaza had already led cricket to the edge of a financial precipice before Covid-19 arrived to really set the cat amongst the pigeons.

We are facing the near-collapse of the professional game in this country and Mthethwa’s short-sighted focus at the moment seems to be on getting the entire Board to resign and installing an all-Black team of directors and management in their place.

Chasing every White administrator and former player out of the game will be disastrous; the White community still has so much to offer South African cricket and, given the inequalities of the past, most of the intellectual property that made the Proteas the number one team in the world resides in their ranks.

All Mthethwa’s efforts seem to have achieved so far is bringing the seven members of the Members Council who are not directors closer to the Board, based on the age-old proverb that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

As a government minister, Mthethwa should have the leadership nous to know that solving a problem is seldom achieved by using scorched earth means; instead of firing a figurative nuclear missile at CSA, he should have a few gunners and those marksmen should be focused on the problem individuals.

An entirely new Board will be too much of a disruption if CSA are to become a smooth-functioning organisation again and there are directors like Dheven Dharmalingam, Marius Schoeman and Tebogo Siko who were only appointed to the Board in the last year and have been vocal in their support for change.

Given the hardships our government officials have inflicted on so many people through their own greed and corruption, why should we trust them to solve cricket’s problems? It was interesting to see the infamous Service Provider X of the Fundudzi Forensic Report, against whom criminal charges have been recommended, being allegedly unmasked this week as Unathi Tshotwana, who seems to be in the inner circle of government ministers.

Tshotwana was a fundraiser for the ANC Youth League and a high-ranking ANC official in the Western Cape, as well as being the spokesman for the Minister of Energy and a liaison officer for the National Department of Human Settlements. His wedding in the Winelands was featured on Top Billing and was attended by Faith Muthambi, the former communications minister who has had criminal charges laid against her for lying to parliament, and Zizi Kodwa, now the deputy state security minister.

Mthethwa has already shown that he cares little for the good of the game by refusing to allow our Proteas Women’s team to tour England in September, with the hosts picking up all costs for the measures to safeguard against Covid-19. There has still been no response from the ministry since they were asked for the reasons the women were denied such a wonderful opportunity, when sportsmen from other codes have been allowed to compete overseas.

Knights pace bowler Mbulelo Budaza wishes he had not been playing cricket on October 27, 2013, but the awful tragedy that happened that day continues to spur him on to greater heights in his cricket career.

Budaza, then a 20-year-old playing for the University of Fort Hare in Alice, bowled a bouncer to Old Selbornians batsman Darryn Randall. The former Border representative tried to hook the delivery, missed and was struck a fatal blow below the eye, a freak and unimaginable accident because Randall was wearing a helmet.

The 32-year-old collapsed immediately and never regained consciousness. Amidst the horror and utter grief of the tragedy, Randall’s family forgave and offered support to the young Budaza, and said they wanted to see him rise up and go on to play for the Proteas one day.

“My grief for that day will never end, I could not believe it happened, I never stop thinking about it. But it means I badly want to succeed in my cricket career, because of the support I received from his family and mine, and from people like Greg Hayes and Mfuneko Ngam, plus Prince Dabula, the varsity psychologist.

“The Randall family said to Greg that they wanted to see me go on and play for the Proteas, they said it to motivate me and they have been very supportive. That pushes me and I’m very happy with the success I’ve had so far and I’m going to work even harder towards that goal,” Budaza says.

And an audit of Budaza’s career shows that it has certainly been onwards and upwards for the left-arm quick, who has now bowled himself into genuinely being in the conversation for higher honours.

He has been particularly effective in 50-over cricket and from 2015/16 to the 2018/19 season he played 43 games for the Knights and took 54 wickets at an average of 28.12 and an economy rate of 5.45 runs-per-over. And then last season was his real breakthrough campaign as he was the joint leading wicket-taker with Knights team-mate Shaun von Berg in the Momentum One-Day Cup, taking 18 wickets at an average of just 16.27 and an economy rate of only 4.71 as the Central Franchise reached the semi-finals before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19.

“It was a good season after a tough one the year before when everything just seemed to slow down, it was a struggle, I bowled a lot of no-balls and I just didn’t have good rhythm. But I was chuffed to come back strong and I felt very privileged to play so well, thanks to my team-mates’ support. The work I did with our new head coach Allan Donald was the first reason for my comeback and it was an honour for me to work with him. He changed some technical stuff and helped me a lot.

“I’m not really thinking about playing for the Proteas, although that is my dream. My focus is on winning games for the Knights and whatever comes from that will come. If I do well for them again this coming season then hopefully I will get a look-in with the SA A side, but I just have to make sure I am in form and winning games for the Knights.”

The lanky Budaza comes from the Eastern Cape cricket nursery that just keeps rolling out highly talented fast bowlers, but he is not so much an offshoot of township cricket as a product of the rural game.

“I was born in the farming district of Manley Flats and that’s where my cricket started. My first game was when I was watching my cousins play and they were one man short so they called me to help. I grew up playing on the streets and I was always tall. I played for the Willows Club [who Makhaya Ntini used to play for] because there was no cricket at my primary or high school, until in Grade X I got a scholarship to Woodridge College from Grade XI.

“Playing for the Willows Club in Grahamstown, Christo Esau, the Eastern Province provincial coach, and Piet Botha, the head coach –took me to Port Elizabeth for academy trials and I worked with them. Woodridge then said they wanted me and I did not hesitate because I wanted to play cricket,” Budaza explains.

Woodridge College is a private school situated between Port Elizabeth and Jeffreys Bay, so Budaza’s first provincial recognition came with the Eastern Province rural team.

“In 2010, I was chosen for the EP Rural team to go to Kimberley for the Senior Rural Cricket Week. That was a big thing for me, there is talent there and a lot of it is not recognised. So I didn’t take it for granted. I had two options after matric, to go to Fort Hare or the Eastern Province academy. I chose Fort Hare because as a bowler, to have Mfuneko Ngam as a coach would be brilliant. We worked very hard and we got very close, I was very fortunate to have him as a coach.”

Rural cricket is what used to be called Country Districts and it not only highlights the game being played in great spirit but also exposes the considerable talent that exists away from the cities. Leon Coetzee is the president of Rural Cricket South Africa and he says they desperately need more support especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I consistently argue that some unions are not spending enough to improve the quality of the many rural clubs in their area, to help them with coaching of coaches and better administration. SA Rural should have more to spend on developing talent, people like Ferisco Adams of Boland and Diego Rosier from Northern Cape came from rural areas and a couple of Black African stars like Mbulelo Budaza came through from Country Districts to get franchise contracts.

“If they didn’t play rural cricket then they would not have been noticed. There’s a massive amount of undiscovered rural talent, but South African cricket is focused more on the semi-pros and franchises. I have approached unions to see how we can improve relations and Covid could have a damning effect on the sustainability of many rural clubs, especially if we can only start playing next year,” Coetzee says.

In terms of style, Budaza is reminiscent of Lonwabo Tsotsobe, the last Black African left-arm quick to play Test cricket for South Africa, and although they do not come from the same community, the former number one ranked bowler in one-day international cricket is also a product of the Eastern Cape.

“They called me ‘Lopsy’ at Woodridge and we had these warm-up T-shirts and my number was also 68. The first time I watched the Proteas play live was an ODI against India in Port Elizabeth in 2011 and Tsotsobe took the first two wickets for South Africa. He was not quick but he got bounce and had a beautiful action. He was my early role-model.” Despite his talents, Budaza only played two first-class, four List A and one T20 game in two seasons with Border. But in a sign of his determination to succeed, he decided his cricket dreams should not suffer one of those long, slow deaths in a relative backwater, even if it was close to home, and he signed for Northern Cape ahead of the 2015/16 season. By that December he was making his Knights debut.

“But I did not get too many semi-pro opportunities with Border, and then Northern Cape signed me, with JP Triegaardt, who is also a very good coach, very active and works you hard,” Budaza says. “The call-up from the Knights was a surprise because I’d only been there a month or two. My first game was against the Cobras and they had all their Proteas back, bowling to guys like Hashim Amla and JP Duminy made me nervous, I had seen them on TV and now I was playing against them. But cricket is cricket so I changed nothing, I just tried to bowl in a good area for as long as possible.”

And the occasion was not too big for him as three of his first five overs were maidens.

Like Tsotsobe, Budaza is a skilful bowler, but he does not believe in bringing a whole backpack of tricks into play, preferring rather to squeeze the batsmen into submission.

“Playing a lot of cricket in Kimberley and Bloemfontein, you’ve got to be clever as a bowler and make sure your skills are up. You have to make sure you are fit and don’t get tired, because then the batsmen will punish you. Whenever I get the ball, I just try to do the right thing for the team. I’m not really chasing wickets, I try to contain and not concede runs whatever happens. But I can be aggressive if I need to be,” Budaza explains.

The member of the South African Emerging Players squad epitomises the Jewish word “Chutzpah” and the words of psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl certainly ring true in Budaza’s case – “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Mbulelo Budaza has already overcome significant challenges and is growing rapidly into one of the country’s most exciting bowlers, as well as being, in coach Donald’s words: “nothing but a brilliant human being, it’s amazing how he has got himself up and made something of himself”.

Allan Donald sidebar

Allan Donald had a phenomenal record as a fast bowler and has built up a huge reputation as a bowling coach. In his new position as Knights head coach, he describes Mbulelo Budaza as being a larger-than-life character with a big work ethic.

“He’s been a solid performer for a while and is eager to learn, he tries really hard to execute whatever you’re working on and is a careful listener, before going away to do his drills on his own, he gets on with it. On his day he can swing the ball beautifully, but on some other days the wrist is not quite right and we’re working really hard on rectifying that.

“But he is a lovely character who everyone likes. A funny guy, the room lights up when he’s in it, Mbulelo is a terrific person, when I was consulting we connected very well and he’s a superstar in the making, one of the dependables. What sets him apart is that he stays competitive.

“He’s definitely got a bit more pace than Tsotsobe, but Lopsy used to swing it around corners and really late too. Mbulelo is still working on that side, but sometimes he’s fighting against that naughty wrist. But that can work in his favour because the batsman starts thinking about why it’s not swinging back in … ” Donald said.

“But he can make it move the other way and that’s why he’s so hard to face – he’s unpredictable. I tell him to just keep on faking it on those bad wrist days. But he keeps breaking partnerships on flat pitches, he has golden spells but he also just keeps plugging away. This is going to be a big season for him.”

Bulls coach Jake White has refused to release an injury report this week ahead of their SuperRugby Unlocked opener against Griquas at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, and the reason became clear on Thursday when he announced a team missing several of the stars from their impressive warm-up against the Sharks a fortnight ago.

White has decided not to risk the “niggling” injuries captain Duane Vermeulen, dazzling new wing Kurt-Lee Arendse and experienced loose forward Nizaam Carr have suffered and he has also been shorn of the services of hooker Schalk Erasmus for six weeks, after surgery on a twisted ankle.

So flank Arno Botha, who has made an impressive return to South African rugby, will lead the team against Griquas and Tim Agaba will start at eighthman. The tall David Kriel looked a threat when he came on in the second half against the Sharks and he will replace Arendse at left wing, while the Bulls have good cover at hooker with Corniel Els starting and the exciting young Johan Grobbelaar on the bench.

“Duane has a bang on the leg from last week’s Springbok Showdown and he’ll be fine, but with us playing for five weeks in a row we cannot afford to risk him pushing through. We can afford to give other guys opportunity though and it’s a great chance to see how Tim, who everyone speaks highly of, goes along with the first-choice pack.

“Kurt-Lee is also injured, he has a contusion on his quad and for someone who needs to run a lot, that’s a risk. He’ll be ready next week. Schalk has had an operation on an ankle roll and we know he’ll be ready in six weeks, whereas if we’d treated it conservatively it could reoccur. Nizaam has a bang on his knee so I couldn’t pick him.

“All the teams seem to have a lot of niggles because of the lack of rugby and contact. I suppose I could pick these guys if I really wanted to, but we can’t afford it with our schedule if they have niggles. That’s why I don’t want to give my injury report on a Monday because then the opposition then basically knows my team at the start of the week and I wanted to see if some of these guys could pull through,” White said on Thursday.

The one area where White has taken something of a risk is at tighthead prop, however, with Trevor Nyakane chosen despite spending the week in Cape Town in quarantine because he had been in close proximity with fellow Springbok Oupa Mohoje, who has tested positive for Covid-19.

“Trevor had a training program in Cape Town and he’s been able to stick to that. Of course it’s not ideal that he hasn’t trained with us, but he’s a Springbok and important to us. He knows how we play, he’s been at every session except the last two weeks. We’ll start with him and then if he gets fatigued then we can bring the reserve [Mornay Smith] on,” White explained.

Grobbelaar has recently got over his own struggle with Covid-19 and with Lizo Gqoboka recovered from injury and starting loosehead Jacques van Rooyen having arrived at the Bulls and impressed, the Pretoria side have plenty of front-row experience for a clash in which the first battle will be up front.

Team – Gio Aplon, Travis Ismaiel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, David Kriel, Morne Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Tim Agaba, Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Corniel Els, Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements: Johan Grobbelaar, Lizo Gqoboka, Mornay Smith, Sintu Manjezi, Elrigh Louw, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt highlighted the wonderful form shown last weekend by scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba and prop Ox Nche in the Springbok Showdown and said he was looking forward to them playing big roles in their Super Rugby Unlocked opener against the Lions at Kings Park in Durban on Friday night.

We look at their strengths and three other key areas of the Sharks challenge:

Sanele Nohamba

The young scrumhalf had a marvellous game for the triumphant Green team at Newlands, showing a pleasing range to his game with his tactical kicking being astute, his service crisp and his ability to spark attack also on point. The Lions will be wondering how to deal with him and not allow him to dominate from the base.

“Sanele was a shining light last weekend and I was extremely happy for him. The whole experience would have been really good for him but it’s also beneficial for us – I’m sure he really learnt a lot in that week and he brought that confidence back to us. He’s quick around the field and certainly understands the game. He conducts the traffic at the back and I’m really excited about the growth he’s shown in the last 12 months, he really knows and understands his roles and responsibilities now,” Everitt said.

Ox Nche

Loosehead prop Ox Nche gave an eye-opening display at Newlands as he anchored the Green scrum in an impressive display. He successfully dismantled former Springbok tighthead Ruan Dreyer, which helped negate the massive influence of Steven Kitshoff on the loosehead side for Gold. When Carlu Sadie replaced Dreyer, he gave Nche more pause for thought.

Dreyer also struggled against Kitshoff on SuperFan Saturday and the Lions have rewarded Sadie’s better form by giving him the starting tighthead berth. It will be a mouthwatering battle between Nche and Sadie, with Thomas du Toit providing solid support in the Sharks’ No.3 jersey.

“Their great form really started early on in Super Rugby. We had a few issues at the start of the year in our scrum and there were plenty of critics. But since then the scrum has gone from strength to strength. I thought they stood up well against the Bulls two weeks ago and Ox and Thomas carried that through to last weekend’s Green and Gold game. Ox getting one over Dreyer of the Lions last weekend will add some spice to Friday night and it will be an interesting battle,” Everitt said.

JP Pietersen & Werner Kok

The Sharks have had terrible luck in the wing position with Makazole Mapimpi leaving for Japan and both Sbu Nkosi and Madosh Tambwe being injured. Yaw Penje, another to impress at Newlands last weekend, has been hastily signed up on a short-term deal, but in the meantime the 34-year-old Pietersen and Sevens Springbok Kok, who has played just 20 games of senior XV-a-side rugby in his career, will have to man the fort against the Lions out wide.

But there’s probably not a trick in the book that Pietersen, a veteran of 70 Tests, does not know, and Kok was impressive when he played on the wing for the Sharks on SuperFan Saturday, bringing plenty of work-rate and physicality.

Manie Libbok

The 23-year-old is an interesting addition to the Sharks’ line-up and will make his competitive debut for them at fullback on Friday night. Considered one of the premier talents in South African junior rugby midway through last decade, Libbok’s career did not really kick on at the Bulls. Getting an early chance to start because of Aphelele Fassi’s long-term injury, Libbok will certainly add pace, verve and incisiveness to the Sharks attack, plus he is another strong kicking option from the back.

Lukhanyo Am

Burger Odendaal’s move to Ellis Park seems to have led to a change in approach by the Lions, who have chosen a sledgehammer midfield pairing in Dan Kriel and Odendaal shifting from his usual inside centre position to No.13. Strong ball-carrying rather than tempo and expansiveness could be the Lions’ focus, especially with Willem Alberts playing at lock.

There’s going to be a fascinating clash of styles though between Sharks captain Am and Odendaal; Am will have to deal with the very direct, power-based attack of Odendaal, while the World Cup winner will be looking to use his cunning, skill and pace to elude Odendaal’s defence.